How to choose a city to immigrate to - Part #3
10+5 factors to consider in your selection process
Well this is awkward.
Initially, I wrote a post about the 10 factors you need to consider before immigrating to a new city. That ended up being too long to keep any sane person’s attention till the end, so I split it in two parts. And after publishing what I thought would be the second and last part, I got feedback that I should add a couple of things. I also decided to add a few more of my own, so here we are:
The 3rd out of 2 (!) parts, about how to choose a city to immigrate to. The previous 2 parts covered the first 10 factors in the list below. This post, will touch upon the last five:
Culture
“In the Netherlands, students have opportunities. In Spain, students don’t work and they stay with their parents until their late 20s. But I miss the Mediterranean culture. I miss the sun, I miss the people”. These were the words of a Spanish girl in her early 20s, who studies in the Netherlands1.
I already mentioned the vibe of a city as a factor you should consider. As part of the vibe of a city, I consider cultural events and places, like concerts, museums and cafés. By culture, I don’t mean art and neither did that Spanish girl; I mean the ways and customs of the locals. Before moving, it is worth asking yourself: Is this a culture that is far from what I am used to? Are there things I need to know and make peace with, before moving there?
Taking Denmark as an example, it is a place where making local friends is very difficult. Even more so, if you do not speak the language, because then you are considered a flight risk: people might avoid investing in you, out of fear that you will, sooner or later, move out of the country. Eventually, significant part of your social circle will consist of other expats. Is this something you are prepared for? In the example of the Spanish girl, are you willing to give up the warmness of people? Or at least, are you prepared to try very hard to earn it?
On a different example, in some countries people consume a lot of meat. If you are vegetarian/vegan and you are looking to move to such a country, the food options might be very limited for you. Even more so if you are interested in a medium/small-size city, where options are in general fewer. If a specific diet is part of the culture and you don’t like that diet, it might be annoying to always have to think ahead about where to find something nice to eat.
Another example could be the position of women in the country’s society. Are they treated as equals? Can you, as a woman, live your life as you wish, or do you have to comply with awkward and obsolete standards that only make your life unnecessarily harder?
I am not saying this to discourage you from trying to live as part of a different culture; in fact, if I were to try to convince you of anything, it would be the exact opposite. But you should be prepared that some differences, might have a tangible effect on your daily life.
Religion
This one might sound strange if you 've moved only between countries that share the same religion, or religion is not a big part of local culture. If however you are considering moving to a city where religion is a part of daily life, you should think how this will affect you2.
Think of it like this: if you were indifferent about religion, would you move to a place where everyone is deeply religious? Would you move to Egypt if you were an atheist? Or would you move to the Bible Belt if you were Muslim or if you just didn't care so much about religion?
To clarify, I am not referring to hatred or being unwelcome or anything of the sort. But in very religious places, religion affects all aspects of life. Holidays will be dictated by religion. Work hours might be dictated by the times people pray. Not practicing the same religion, might rule you out of social circles. All in all, if you are moving to a deeply religious area, take a second to think of what implications that might have on your life.
Welfare state
Welfare state means a state that takes care of all its citizens. The focal points of such a state would mainly be healthcare, education, retirement and unemployment. The better a country handles these topics the higher the level of welfare.
You can think of it like this: do I need to take on a huge student loan to study? Do I need to spend a lot of money on healthcare insurances, otherwise I will not afford to go to the doctor even for the simplest of things? If I lose my job, is there a safety net from the state that will protect me from starving? Do I need to take care of my own pension, or will the system established by the state cover me?
The importance of welfare increases with our age. If you haven't even thought about welfare, then congrats, you are very young. But pension, healthcare system, sending your kids to school, are things you value more the older you get. Accordingly, my advice would be to give higher weight on these factors as you get older. If on the other hand, you are moving to another country only for a couple of years and you are too young to worry about any of these, good for you. Probably this section doesn't resonate with your state in life.
Job opportunities
Sometimes people move because of a job, so whether there are other jobs for them does not really cross their mind. But what if you don’t like that job once you start? Or what about when you move to be with someone else? Moving to be with your partner will for sure have a higher priority than any job, but what happens once you are there? You can do any job to get started, but it is probable that eventually you will want something more.
Working in a job we enjoy checks far more boxes than just income. Of course money is number one. But a job you enjoy will also boost your confidence. It will also help you create a circle of your own, since you will probably not know anyone in the place you just moved. Not feeling good about yourself and not having friends, might result in you being grumpy every day and venting on your partner. Ultimately, feeling good about yourself will have a positive effect on your relationship. A good (bad) job will contribute positively (negatively) to the feeling of self-worth. Similarly, you want your partner to have a fulfilling job to avoid them venting on you.
That means that before you and your partner move somewhere, maybe it is worth considering whether you can both grow professionally in the new location.
Quality of life
“Danes are supposed to be the happiest people in the world. What do you think?” I get this question a lot when I am outside Denmark. And the truth is, I don’t know how to answer.
I don’t know if life in Denmark is a happy life. But it is to a large extend a careless life. Interactions with the state are digitalized and bureaucracy minimized. Public transport works3 and you do not need a car to survive in the city. The law is applied and people follow it.
Do these things make one happy? I don’t think so. But combine them with a state of welfare and many fundamental, everyday problems go away. Hence, I like to say that life in Denmark is problem-free4. Some, including myself, would call that quality of life.
Quality of life is not a tangible factor and that is why I left it for last. It is all the examples that I gave combined, but not only that; it is also having green spaces close to you; it is feeling safe to let your kids play outside without supervision; it is not being scared that you will be ran over by a car when you are biking. Basically, it is all the factors listed in this mini-series, accompanied by a bunch of other, more fluffy ones.
Love
Guest-starring this list, is relocating due to a relationship. I did not add it in the table of contents, as it is not exactly a reason you choose a city. If you partner lives somewhere else and you want to be with them, then the place is already decided for you. So in that sense, you have little power to choose.
Hopefully however, if you are not very fond of your partner’s location5, you can sit together and find a place that suits both your needs. And that is where love, becomes a factor you need to consider in order to choose a city. Basically, apart from your needs and wants, you need to consider also your partner’s. And vice-versa.
Maybe you both like nature, but the cities you like, only offer job opportunities to one of you. Maybe one of you absolutely hates learning new languages. That means that your list of constraints grows a lot. Unfortunately, this is a tricky puzzle to solve as it is not easy to please both. I would say however that, this is a crash test to relationships: where does love rank as a factor compared to the rest in your selection process? Are you willing to back up on your other wants, in order to be with your partner?
Conclusion, yet again.
I don’t have anything new to say, compared to what I already wrote in part #2. I will only stress again that, your priorities will change over time. That means that, regardless of whether I covered the most important factors or not, you should revisit your list of priorities once in a while and check that they match what your city is offering you.
- The Naive Ignorant
Fun fact, this conversation took place in a small village in Reggio Emilia, Italy. A bunch of people were invited in a beautiful country house, for a balsamic vinegar tasting, in what was a full-day event: everyone brought their own dishes and desserts, which were then shared alongside pizza straight from a stove oven. All that, during a beautiful spring day, where you constantly wanted to switch between sun and shade, to enjoy both.
Religion is usually something that affects the whole country, but there are exceptions, hence you should examine it at a city-level. The most evident example that comes to mind is India, where different religions co-exist. Moving to a different region might mean that the main religion changes. So if India is under your radar, you should check the religion at the specific city/region you are aiming for.
My friends who travel often to Jylland might disagree on that.
The word I use when having this discussion in Greek is “απροβλημάτιστη”, which literally translates to “problem-free”.
Or if you have used these posts to choose a city and you realized that, that city ranks very low according to your priorities.